German court to decide on Niki insolvency challenge on Thursday

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FRANKFURT/VIENNA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - A German court is likely to decide on Thursday whether to reverse the insolvency filing of airline Niki, following legal action from a group representing airline passengers, according to a press release from the Berlin civil courts.

Fairplane said on Tuesday it had filed legal cases to have the insolvency proceedings for budget airline Niki shifted to Austria from Germany, in a move that could endanger the sale of the Air Berlin unit to Britain’s IAG.

A court in Berlin’s Charlottenburg must now decide whether to reverse its Dec. 13 decision opening insolvency proceedings for Niki or to pass on the case to a higher court.

An Austrian court has meanwhile received a request to open insolvency proceedings for Niki in Austria, a spokesman for the Korneuburg court said on Wednesday, adding it would take the court until next week to assess the matter. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich; Editing by Tom Sims)